APHA announces speakers for 2013 Annual Meeting

From an internationally acclaimed epidemiologist to a national leader on neighborhood issues, APHA’s just-announced lineup of speakers will drive home its 2013 Annual Meeting theme: “Think Global, Act Local: Best Practices Around the World.”

Michael Marmot

Sunday’s opening session will feature Michael Marmot, whose groundbreaking research over the past 35 years uncovered some of the most profound findings regarding social and health inequalities. He has led some of the world’s most compelling studies on the social determinants of health, including the Whitehall Studies in Britain, which documented important effects of class on health over a 20- to 40-year span. His studies have looked at everything from life expectancy in Scotland to disease patterns of Japanese migrants in America.

Forty years ago, Sarah Weddington became the youngest person to win a case before the U.S. Supreme Court when she successfully argued the Roe v. Wade case. Her argument upheld the reproductive health rights of women for generations and remains one of the most contentious legal decisions in modern U.S. history. Weddington, too, will speak during the opening session.

Sarah Weddington

Boston Mayor Tom Menino has spent a lifetime working to improve the lives of his city’s residents. Whether through innovative public health programs or progressive environmental policy, Menino has put Boston at the national forefront of healthy, livable cities. Through targeted and aggressive outreach, he has fought to reduce ethnic health disparities, combat substance abuse, and promote healthy nutrition for both children and adults. Having recently been named the 3rd greenest city in America, Boston is a leader in sustainability and environmental awareness.

Menino, whose city plays host to the APHA Annual Meeting this year and is still recovering from the Boston Marathon bombing tragedy, is active in the fight for gun control and co-founded, with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Keynote speaker Evan Adams was British Columbia’s first aboriginal health physician advisor and in 2012 was appointed deputy provincial health officer for aboriginal health. His appointment brings greater perspective to the provincial health system with the goal of raising the quality of life for First Nations and all citizens. Adams is also an acclaimed actor known to many as Thomas Builds-the-Fire from the 1998 movie “Smoke Signals.”